Striking bag bladder



April 17, 1951 P, HAYE 2,549,197

STRIKING BAG BLADDER Filed May 28, 1947 Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE STRIKING BAG BLADDER John P. Hayes, Los Angeles,Calif.

Application May 28, 1947, Serial No. 751,077

1 Claim.

My invention relates generally to play and exercise balls, and moreparticularly to the leather covered tether balls having an inflatableinner member generally termed a bladder.

Most of the covered tether balls now on the market have a leather strapor extension to which the suspension cord is fastened, with the ends ofsaid strap loop secured by stitching to the lining between the leathercover and bladder, or to a leather disc beneath said lining, with theleather cover having a laced slit which enables the disc to be insertedbetween the cover and bladder and then laced in.

These constructions have certain disadvantages, viz, the tendency of thestrap to pull from its fastenings due to strain developed when the ballis struck, also the breaking Of the lacing which permits the disc to bepulled out.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide simple, strong andefficient means for connecting the suspension cord to the ball, so as towithstand heavy strains tending to break or separate such connection,and which connections means is constructed so as to enable the bladderto be readily placed inside and removed from its cover.

My invention also contemplates the use of an all rubber ball or bladderdisposed within and secured by cement or vulcanization to a snug fittingcover of rubber, as well as to a cover of leather, or the like.

My present invention includes an inflatable ball or bladder similar tothat shown in U. S. Patent #2,184,453 issued to me December 26, 1939,and further, is an improvement on the Play and Exercising Ball disclosedin my co-pending application for U. S. Letters Patent filed April 15,1947, Ser. No. 741,565, now abandoned.

With the foregoing and othe objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts whichwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my improved play and exercisingball.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ball with parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views similar to Fig. 3 and showing modifiedconstructions of the ball.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing which illustrates apreferred embodiment of my invention, l 0 designates an inflatablerubber ball or bladder, from the top of which projects upward a shortcylindrical wall ll.

Formed integral with the ball within said wall is a stud I? in which isembedded a coil l3 of wire terminating at an eye I4 above said stud,which eye provides a point offattachment for the ball suspension memberl5, preferably .cord orthong.

The construction just described is practically identical with thatdisclosed in my aforesaid pending application Ser. No. 741,565, nowabandoned.

Ball Ill is provided with a snug fitting cover 16, preferably leatherand having a lining Ill, of soft flexible material such as fabric orfelt.

Formed in cover I B and its lining is an aperture !8, through which wallll, projects with a snug fit and disposed against the underside of thelining around said aperture, is a reinforcing washer-like member I 9 ofstrong, flexible material such as fabricated rubber or rubberizedfabric.

This member I9 is secured to cover It and its lining H by a row or rowsof stitching 20, disposed adjacent and parallel with the edge ofaperture l8 and to further secure said member 19, its upper surface iscoated with rubber cement of the self vulcanizing type.

Before bladder 10 is inserted through opening I8, the underface ofreinforcing ring I9, and/or the surface of said bladder, adjacent wallII, is coated with self vulcanizing cement, and thus, when said bladderis inflated, strong cemented joints of considerable area will beproduced between both faces of ring l9, and the contacting faces of thecover and bladder.

Thus a circular zone of greatly increased strength is provided betweenthe anchorage for the suspension member 15, and the ball comprisingparts l0, l6 and I1 and which improved structure minimizes tendency ofthe ball to break away from its suspension member, eliminates repairsand materially prolongs the life or period of service of the ball.

In Fig. 4, I have shown an inflatable ball or bladder 2| of rubber, tothe top of which is cemented or vulcanized a concave-convex disc 22 ofrubber, and the upper face of the latter, outside a centrally arrangedupstanding circular wall 23 which incloses a stud 24 and eye 25, iscemented or vulcanized to the underface of a covering member 26,preferably rubber.

Thus that portion of the completed ball is greatly reinforced andstrengthened below and surrounding the point of anchorage for the ballsuspension member.

In Fig. 5, an upstanding circular wall 2! surrounding a stud 28 and eye29, formed integral with the top of an inflatable ball or bladder 30 anda reinforcing ring 3! of rubberized fabric or the like, is cemented orvulcanized to the underface of a covering ball 32 of rubber, adjacentthe aperture 33 for wall 21 and the underlying outer surface of bladder30.

A source of considerable trouble with single walled tether balls, is therapid development of checks and cracks under severe strains, for whenthe check or crack passes completely through the wall, the ballcollapses, thus putting it out It will be understood that minor changesin the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improvedplay and exercising ball maybe madeiand substituted for those herein 4shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention,the scope of which is set forth in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a play or exercise ball, an inflatable bladder, an integral lug ontop of said bladder, a suspension cord attaching member having its lowerportion embedded in said lug and its upper portion projecting above saidlug and a hand and knuckle protective wall integral with and projectingupwardly from the top of said bladder around said lug and said attachingmember.

JOHN P. HAYES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 580,157 Frazier Apr. 6, 1897600,777 Frazier Mar. 15, 1898 663,690 Whitely et al Dec. 11, 1900788,245 Burtt Apr. 25, 1905 1,513,523 Rothhirsch Oct. 28, 1924 1,690,162Fitzpatrick Nov. 6, 1928 2,186,016 Evans Jan. 9, 1940 2,186,403 Bulliset al Jan. 9, 1940 2,435,864 Adams Feb. 10, 1948

